Paik, Young J. (Campbell, CA, US)

11/102438

03/25/2008

04/08/2005

Images are available in PDF form when logged in. To view PDFs, Login  or  Create Account (Free!)

View patents that cite this patent

Click for automatic bibliography generation

Applied Materials, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA, US)

700/110

G06F19/00; G05B13/02

700/45, 700/33, 700/44, 700/108-110, 700/31, 702/84, 700/51, 700/34

3208485	Automatic fraction collector	September, 1965	Tiffany
3229198	Eddy current nondestructive testing device for measuring multiple parameter variables of a metal sample	January, 1966	Libby
3767900	ADAPTIVE CONTROLLER HAVING OPTIMAL FILTERING	October, 1973	Chao et al.
3920965	Method and apparatus for predictive control	November, 1975	Sohrwardy
4000458	Method for the noncontacting measurement of the electrical conductivity of a lamella	December, 1976	Miller et al.
4207520	Multiple frequency digital eddy current inspection system	June, 1980	Flora et al.
4209744	Eddy current device for automatically testing the quality of elongated electrically conductive objects by non-destructive techniques	June, 1980	Gerasimov et al.
4302721	Non-contacting resistivity instrument with structurally related conductance and distance measuring transducers	November, 1981	Urbanek et al.
4368510	Automatic identification system for self tuning process controller	January, 1983	Anderson
4609870	Lift off compensation of eddy current crack detection system by controlling damping resistance of oscillator	September, 1986	Lale et al.
4616308	Dynamic process control	October, 1986	Morshedi et al.
4663703	Predictive model reference adaptive controller	May, 1987	Axelby et al.
4698766	Industrial processing and manufacturing systems	October, 1987	Entwistle et al.
4750141	Method and apparatus for separating fixture-induced error from measured object characteristics and for compensating the measured object characteristic with the error, and a bow/warp station implementing same	June, 1988	Judell et al.
4755753	Eddy current surface mapping system for flaw detection	July, 1988	Chern
4757259	Method for measuring the thickness and temperature of a moving metal sheet by means of eddy currents	July, 1988	Charpentier
4796194	Real world modeling and control process	January, 1989	Atherton
4901218	Communications adaptor for automated factory system	February, 1990	Cornwell
4938600	Method and apparatus for measuring registration between layers of a semiconductor wafer	July, 1990	Into
4957605	Method and apparatus for sputter coating stepped wafers	September, 1990	Hurwitt et al.
4967381	Process control interface system for managing measurement data	October, 1990	Lane et al.
5089970	Integrated manufacturing system	February, 1992	Lee et al.
5108570	Multistep sputtering process for forming aluminum layer over stepped semiconductor wafer	April, 1992	Wang
5208765	Computer-based method and system for product development	May, 1993	Turnbull
5220517	Process gas distribution system and method with supervisory control	June, 1993	Sierk et al.
5226118	Data analysis system and method for industrial process control systems	July, 1993	Baker et al.
5231585	Computer-integrated manufacturing system and method	July, 1993	Kobayashi et al.
5236868	Formation of titanium nitride on semiconductor wafer by reaction of titanium with nitrogen-bearing gas in an integrated processing system	August, 1993	Nulman
5240552	Chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) of a semiconductor wafer using acoustical waves for in-situ end point detection	August, 1993	Yu et al.
5260868	Method for calendaring future events in real-time	November, 1993	Gupta et al.
5270222	Method and apparatus for semiconductor device fabrication diagnosis and prognosis	December, 1993	Moslehi
5283141	Photolithography control system and method using latent image measurements	February, 1994	Yoon et al.
5295242	Apparatus and method for viewing relationships in a factory management system	March, 1994	Mashruwala et al.
5309221	Measurement of fiber diameters with high precision	May, 1994	Fischer et al.
5329463	Process gas distribution system and method with gas cabinet exhaust flow control	July, 1994	Sierk et al.
5338630	Photolithography control system and method using latent image measurements	August, 1994	Yoon et al.
5347446	Model predictive control apparatus	September, 1994	Iino et al.
5367624	Interface for controlling transactions in a manufacturing execution system	November, 1994	Cooper
5369544	Silicon-on-insulator capacitive surface micromachined absolute pressure sensor	November, 1994	Mastrangelo
5375064	Method and apparatus for moving a material removal tool with low tool accelerations	December, 1994	Bollinger
5398336	Object-oriented architecture for factory floor management	March, 1995	Tantry et al.
5402367	Apparatus and method for model based process control	March, 1995	Sullivan et al.
5408405	Multi-variable statistical process controller for discrete manufacturing	April, 1995	Mozumder et al.
5410473	Method and apparatus for recording electrocardiogram information	April, 1995	Kaneko et al.
5420796	Method of inspecting planarity of wafer surface after etchback step in integrated circuit fabrication	May, 1995	Weling et al.
5427878	Semiconductor wafer processing with across-wafer critical dimension monitoring using optical endpoint detection	June, 1995	Corliss
5444837	Method for structuring information used in an industrial process and its application to aircraft piloting assistance	August, 1995	Bomans et al.
5469361	Generic cell controlling method and apparatus for computer integrated manufacturing system	November, 1995	Moyne
5485082	Method of calibrating a thickness measuring device and device for measuring or monitoring the thickness of layers, tapes, foils, and the like	January, 1996	Wisspeintner et al.
5490097	System and method for modeling, analyzing and executing work process plans	February, 1996	Swenson et al.
5495417	System for automatically producing different semiconductor products in different quantities through a plurality of processes along a production line	February, 1996	Fuduka et al.
5497316	Process gas distribution system and method	March, 1996	Sierk et al.
5497381	Bitstream defect analysis method for integrated circuits	March, 1996	O'Donoghue et al.
5503707	Method and apparatus for process endpoint prediction based on actual thickness measurements	April, 1996	Maung et al.
5508947	Process gas distribution system and method with automatic transducer zero calibration	April, 1996	Sierk et al.
5511005	Wafer handling and processing system	April, 1996	Abbe et al.
5519605	Model predictive control apparatus and method	May, 1996	Cawlfield
5525808	Alignment method and alignment apparatus with a statistic calculation using a plurality of weighted coordinate positions	June, 1996	Irie et al.
5526293	System and method for controlling semiconductor wafer processing	June, 1996	Mozumder et al.
5534289	Structural crack monitoring technique	July, 1996	Bilder et al.
5541510	Multi-Parameter eddy current measuring system with parameter compensation technical field	July, 1996	Danielson
5546312	Use of spatial models for simultaneous control of various non-uniformity metrics	August, 1996	Mozumder et al.
5553195	Dynamic neural net	September, 1996	Meijer
5586039	Computer-aided manufacturing support method and system for specifying relationships and dependencies between process type components	December, 1996	Hirsch et al.
5599423	Apparatus and method for simulating and optimizing a chemical mechanical polishing system	February, 1997	Parker et al.
5602492	Electrical test structure and method for measuring the relative locations of conducting features on an insulating substrate	February, 1997	Cresswell et al.
5603707	Absorbent article having a rewet barrier	February, 1997	Trombetta et al.
5617023	Industrial contactless position sensor	April, 1997	Skalski
5627083	Method of fabricating semiconductor device including step of forming superposition error measuring patterns	May, 1997	Tounai
5629216	Method for producing semiconductor wafers with low light scattering anomalies	May, 1997	Wijaranakula et al.
5642296	Method of diagnosing malfunctions in semiconductor manufacturing equipment	June, 1997	Saxena
5646870	Method for setting and adjusting process parameters to maintain acceptable critical dimensions across each die of mass-produced semiconductor wafers	July, 1997	Krivokapic et al.
5649169	Method and system for declustering semiconductor defect data	July, 1997	Berezin et al.
5654903	Method and apparatus for real time monitoring of wafer attributes in a plasma etch process	August, 1997	Reitman et al.
5655951	Method for selectively reconditioning a polishing pad used in chemical-mechanical planarization of semiconductor wafers	August, 1997	Meikle et al.
5657254	Process gas distribution system and method with automatic transducer zero calibration	August, 1997	Sierk et al.
5661669	Method for controlling semiconductor wafer processing	August, 1997	Mozumder et al.
5663797	Method and apparatus for detecting the endpoint in chemical-mechanical polishing of semiconductor wafers	September, 1997	Sandhu
5664987	Methods and apparatus for control of polishing pad conditioning for wafer planarization	September, 1997	Renteln
5665199	Methodology for developing product-specific interlayer dielectric polish processes	September, 1997	Sahota et al.
5665214	Automatic film deposition control method and system	September, 1997	Iturralde
5666297	Plant simulation and optimization software apparatus and method using dual execution models	September, 1997	Britt et al.
5667424	New chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) end point detection apparatus	September, 1997	Pan
5674787	Selective electroless copper deposited interconnect plugs for ULSI applications	October, 1997	Zhao et al.
5694325	Semiconductor production system	December, 1997	Fukuda et al.
5695810	Use of cobalt tungsten phosphide as a barrier material for copper metallization	December, 1997	Dubin et al.
5698989	Film sheet resistance measurement	December, 1997	Nulman
5719495	Apparatus for semiconductor device fabrication diagnosis and prognosis	February, 1998	Moslehi
5719796	System for monitoring and analyzing manufacturing processes using statistical simulation with single step feedback	February, 1998	Chen
5735055	Method and apparatus for measuring the thickness of an article at a plurality of points	April, 1998	Hochbein et al.
5740033	Model predictive controller	April, 1998	Wassick et al.
5740429	E10 reporting tool	April, 1998	Wang et al.
5751582	Controlling process modules using site models and monitor wafer control	May, 1998	Saxena et al.
5754297	Method and apparatus for monitoring the deposition rate of films during physical vapor deposition	May, 1998	Nulman
5761064	Defect management system for productivity and yield improvement	June, 1998	La et al.
5761065	Arrangement and method for detecting sequential processing effects in manufacturing	June, 1998	Kittler et al.
5764543	Extensible model network representation system for process planning	June, 1998	Kennedy
5777901	Method and system for automated die yield prediction in semiconductor manufacturing	July, 1998	Berezin et al.
5787021	Information system for production control	July, 1998	Samaha
5787269	Process simulation apparatus and method for selecting an optimum simulation model for a semiconductor manufacturing process	July, 1998	Hyodo
5808303	Infrared screening and inspection system	September, 1998	Schlagheck et al.
5812407	Apparatus for correcting and holding front surface of sheet	September, 1998	Sato et al.
5823854	Chemical-mechanical polish (CMP) pad conditioner	October, 1998	Chen
5824599	Protected encapsulation of catalytic layer for electroless copper interconnect	October, 1998	Schacham-Diamand et al.
5825356	Help system with semitransparent window for disabling controls	October, 1998	Habib et al.
5825913	System for finding the orientation of a wafer	October, 1998	Rostami et al.
5828778	Method and apparatus for analyzing failure of semiconductor wafer	October, 1998	Hagi et al.
5831851	Apparatus and method for controlling high throughput sputtering	November, 1998	Eastburn et al.
5832224	Entity management system	November, 1998	Fehskens et al.
5838595	Apparatus and method for model based process control	November, 1998	Sullivan et al.
5838951	Wafer map conversion method	November, 1998	Song
5844554	Methods and systems for user interfaces and constraint handling configurations software	December, 1998	Geller et al.
5857258	Electrical test structure and method for measuring the relative locations of conductive features on an insulating substrate	January, 1999	Penzes et al.
5859777	Casting control support system for die casting machines	January, 1999	Yokoyama et al.
5859964	System and method for performing real time data acquisition, process modeling and fault detection of wafer fabrication processes	January, 1999	Wang et al.
5859975	Parallel processing computer system having shared coherent memory and interconnections utilizing separate undirectional request and response lines for direct communication or using crossbar switching device	January, 1999	Brewer et al.
5862054	Process monitoring system for real time statistical process control	January, 1999	Li
5863807	Manufacturing method of a semiconductor integrated circuit	January, 1999	Jang et al.
5867389	Substrate processing management system with recipe copying functions	February, 1999	Hamada et al.
5870306	Automatic programming method and device for multi-system machine tool	February, 1999	Harada
5871805	Computer controlled vapor deposition processes	February, 1999	Lemelson
5883437	Method and apparatus for inspection and correction of wiring of electronic circuit and for manufacture thereof	March, 1999	Maruyama et al.
5889991	Method and system for customizing a palette using any java class	March, 1999	Consolatti et al.
5901313	Application management system	May, 1999	Wolf et al.
5903455	Interface controls for use in a field device management system	May, 1999	Sharpe, Jr. et al.
5910011	Method and apparatus for monitoring processes using multiple parameters of a semiconductor wafer processing system	June, 1999	Cruse
5910846	Method and apparatus for detecting the endpoint in chemical-mechanical polishing of semiconductor wafers	June, 1999	Sandhu
5912678	Process flow design at the module effects level through the use of acceptability regions	June, 1999	Saxena et al.
5916016	Methods and apparatus for polishing wafers	June, 1999	Bothra
5923553	Method for controlling a semiconductor manufacturing process by failure analysis feedback	July, 1999	Yi
5926690	Run-to-run control process for controlling critical dimensions	July, 1999	Toprac et al.
5930138	Arrangement and method for detecting sequential processing effects in manufacturing using predetermined sequences within runs	July, 1999	Lin et al.
5940300	Method and apparatus for analyzing a fabrication line	August, 1999	Ozaki
5943237	Method and system for assessing a measurement procedure and measurement-induced uncertainties on a batchwise manufacturing process of discrete products	August, 1999	Van Boxem
5943550	Method of processing a semiconductor wafer for controlling drive current	August, 1999	Fulford, Jr. et al.
5960185	Method and apparatus for wafer disposition based on systematic error modeling	September, 1999	Nguyen
5960214	Integrated communication network for use in a field device management system	September, 1999	Sharpe, Jr. et al.
5961369	Methods for the in-process detection of workpieces with a monochromatic light source	October, 1999	Bartels et al.
5963881	Method and system for enhancing the identification of causes of variations in the performance of manufactured articles	October, 1999	Kahn et al.
5975994	Method and apparatus for selectively conditioning a polished pad used in planarizng substrates	November, 1999	Sandhu et al.
5978751	Variegated manufacturing process test method and apparatus	November, 1999	Pence et al.
5982920	Automated defect spatial signature analysis for semiconductor manufacturing process	November, 1999	Tobin, Jr. et al.
6002989	System for quality control where inspection frequency of inspection apparatus is reset to minimize expected total loss based on derived frequency function and loss value	December, 1999	Shiba et al.
6012048	Automated banking system for dispensing money orders, wire transfer and bill payment	January, 2000	Gustin et al.
6017771	Method and system for yield loss analysis by yield management system	January, 2000	Yang et al.
6036349	Method and apparatus for validation of model-based predictions	March, 2000	Gombar
6037664	Dual damascene interconnect structure using low dielectric constant material for an inter-level dielectric layer	March, 2000	Zhao et al.
6041263	Method and apparatus for simulating and optimizing a plant model	March, 2000	Boston et al.
6041270	Automatic recipe adjust and download based on process control window	March, 2000	Steffan et al.
6054379	Method of depositing a low k dielectric with organo silane	April, 2000	Yau et al.
6059636	Wafer polishing apparatus	May, 2000	Inaba et al.
6064759	Computer aided inspection machine	May, 2000	Buckley et al.
6072313	In-situ monitoring and control of conductive films by detecting changes in induced eddy currents	June, 2000	Li et al.
6074443	Method and apparatus for scheduling wafer processing within a multiple chamber semiconductor wafer processing tool having a multiple blade robot	June, 2000	Venkatesh et al.
6077412	Rotating anode for a wafer processing chamber	June, 2000	Ting et al.
6078845	Apparatus for carrying semiconductor devices	June, 2000	Friedman
6094688	Modular application collaboration including filtering at the source and proxy execution of compensating transactions to conserve server resources	July, 2000	Mellen-Garnett et al.
6096649	Top metal and passivation procedures for copper damascene structures	August, 2000	Jang
6097887	Software system and method for graphically building customized recipe flowcharts	August, 2000	Hardikar et al.
6100195	Passivation of copper interconnect surfaces with a passivating metal layer	August, 2000	Chan et al.
6108092	Method and apparatus for detecting the endpoint in chemical-mechanical polishing of semiconductor wafers	August, 2000	Sandhu
6111634	Method and apparatus for in-situ monitoring of thickness using a multi-wavelength spectrometer during chemical-mechanical polishing	August, 2000	Pecen et al.
6112130	Semiconductor product manufacturing execution system and semiconductor product manufacturing method	August, 2000	Fukuda et al.
6113462	Feedback loop for selective conditioning of chemical mechanical polishing pad	September, 2000	Yang
6114238	Self-aligned metal nitride for copper passivation	September, 2000	Liao
6127263	Misalignment tolerant techniques for dual damascene fabrication	October, 2000	Parikh
6128016	Graphic user interface for managing a server system	October, 2000	Coelho et al.
6136163	Apparatus for electro-chemical deposition with thermal anneal chamber	October, 2000	Cheung et al.
6141660	Command line interface for creating business objects for accessing a hierarchical database	October, 2000	Bach et al.
6143646	Dual in-laid integrated circuit structure with selectively positioned low-K dielectric isolation and method of formation	November, 2000	Wetzel
6148099	Method and apparatus for incremental concurrent learning in automatic semiconductor wafer and liquid crystal display defect classification	November, 2000	Lee et al.
6148239	Process control system using feed forward control threads based on material groups	November, 2000	Funk et al.
6148246	Semiconductor process system, its control method, computer readable memory, and device manufacturing method	November, 2000	Kawazome
6150270	Method for forming barrier layer for copper metallization	November, 2000	Matsuda et al.
6157864	System, method and article of manufacture for displaying an animated, realtime updated control sequence chart	December, 2000	Schwenke et al.
6159075	Method and system for in-situ optimization for semiconductor wafers in a chemical mechanical polishing process	December, 2000	Zhang
6159644	Method of fabricating semiconductor circuit devices utilizing multiple exposures	December, 2000	Satoh et al.
6161054	Cell control method and apparatus	December, 2000	Rosenthal et al.
6169931	Method and system for modeling, predicting and optimizing chemical mechanical polishing pad wear and extending pad life	January, 2001	Runnels
6172756	Rapid and accurate end point detection in a noisy environment	January, 2001	Chalmers et al.
6173240	Multidimensional uncertainty analysis	January, 2001	Sepulveda et al.
6175777	Method for transferring wafer cassettes after checking whether process equipment is in a suitable mode	January, 2001	Kim
6178390	Method for controlling thicknesses of layers formed by deposition equipment for fabricating semiconductor devices	January, 2001	Jun
6181013	Method for selective growth of Cu3Ge or Cu5Si for passivation of damascene copper structures and device manufactured thereby	January, 2001	Liu et al.
6183345	Polishing apparatus and method	February, 2001	Kamono et al.
6185324	Semiconductor failure analysis system	February, 2001	Ishihara et al.
6191864	Method and apparatus for detecting the endpoint in chemical-mechanical polishing of semiconductor wafers	February, 2001	Sandhu
6192291	Method of controlling semiconductor fabricating equipment to process wafers of a single lot individually	February, 2001	Kwon
6197604	Method for providing cooperative run-to-run control for multi-product and multi-process semiconductor fabrication	March, 2001	Miller et al.
6204165	Practical air dielectric interconnections by post-processing standard CMOS wafers	March, 2001	Ghoshal
6210983	Method for analyzing probe yield sensitivities to IC design	April, 2001	Atchison et al.
6211094	Thickness control method in fabrication of thin-film layers in semiconductor devices	April, 2001	Jun et al.
6212961	Buffer system for a wafer handling system	April, 2001	Dvir
6214734	Method of using films having optimized optical properties for chemical mechanical polishing endpoint detection	April, 2001	Bothra et al.
6217412	Method for characterizing polish pad lots to eliminate or reduce tool requalification after changing a polishing pad	April, 2001	Campbell et al.
6219711	Synchronous communication interface	April, 2001	Chari
6222936	Apparatus and method for reducing defects in a semiconductor lithographic process	April, 2001	Phan et al.
6226563	Method for controlling unit process conditions of semiconductor fabricating equipment arranged in a processing line	May, 2001	Lim
6226792	Object management system supporting the use of application domain knowledge mapped to technology domain knowledge	May, 2001	Goiffon et al.
6228280	Endpoint detection by chemical reaction and reagent	May, 2001	Li et al.
6230069	System and method for controlling the manufacture of discrete parts in semiconductor fabrication using model predictive control	May, 2001	Campbell et al.
6236903	Multiple reaction chamber system having wafer recognition system and method for processing wafer using same	May, 2001	Kim et al.
6237050	Method for controlling components of semiconductor fabricating equipment arranged in a processing line	May, 2001	Kim et al.
6240330	Method for feedforward corrections for off-specification conditions	May, 2001	Kurtzberg et al.
6240331	Integrated management of semiconductor process data	May, 2001	Yun
6245581	Method and apparatus for control of critical dimension using feedback etch control	June, 2001	Bonser et al.
6246972	Analyzer for modeling and optimizing maintenance operations	June, 2001	Klimasauskas
6248602	Method and apparatus for automated rework within run-to-run control semiconductor manufacturing	June, 2001	Bode et al.
6249712	Adaptive control process and system	June, 2001	Boiquaye
6252412	Method of detecting defects in patterned substrates	June, 2001	Talbot et al.
6253366	Method and system for generating a compact document type definition for data interchange among software tools	June, 2001	Mutschler, III
6259160	Apparatus and method of encapsulated copper (Cu) Interconnect formation	July, 2001	Lopatin et al.
6263255	Advanced process control for semiconductor manufacturing	July, 2001	Tan et al.
6268270	Lot-to-lot rapid thermal processing (RTP) chamber preheat optimization	July, 2001	Scheid et al.
6271670	Method and apparatus for detecting external cracks from within a metal tube	August, 2001	Caffey
6276989	Method and apparatus for controlling within-wafer uniformity in chemical mechanical polishing	August, 2001	Campbell et al.
6277014	Carrier head with a flexible membrane for chemical mechanical polishing	August, 2001	Chen et al.
6278899	Method for on-line optimization of a plant	August, 2001	Piche et al.
6280289	Method and apparatus for detecting an end-point in chemical mechanical polishing of metal layers	August, 2001	Wiswesser et al.
6281127	Self-passivation procedure for a copper damascene structure	August, 2001	Shue
6284622	Method for filling trenches	September, 2001	Campbell et al.
6287879	Endpoint stabilization for polishing process	September, 2001	Gonzales et al.
6290572	Devices and methods for in-situ control of mechanical or chemical-mechanical planarization of microelectronic-device substrate assemblies	September, 2001	Hofmann
6291367	Method for depositing a selected thickness of an interlevel dielectric material to achieve optimum global planarity on a semiconductor wafer	September, 2001	Kelkar
6292708	Distributed control system for a semiconductor wafer processing machine	September, 2001	Allen et al.
6298274	Conveyance system in a semiconductor manufacturing process and method for processing semiconductor wafer therein	October, 2001	Inoue
6298470	Method for efficient manufacturing of integrated circuits	October, 2001	Breiner et al.
6303395	Semiconductor processing techniques	October, 2001	Nulman
6304999	Method and apparatus for embedded process control framework in tool systems	October, 2001	Toprac et al.
6307628	Method and apparatus for CMP end point detection using confocal optics	October, 2001	Lu et al.
6314379	Integrated defect yield management and query system	November, 2001	Hu et al.
6317643	Manufacturing and engineering data base	November, 2001	Dmochowski
6320655	Defect-position identifying method for semiconductor substrate	November, 2001	Matsushita et al.
6324481	Method for the calculation of wafer probe yield limits from in-line defect monitor data	November, 2001	Atchison et al.
6334095	Method for assessing plant capacity	December, 2001	Smith	702/181
6334807	Chemical mechanical polishing in-situ end point system	January, 2002	Lebel et al.
6336841	Method of CMP endpoint detection	January, 2002	Chang
6339727	Apparatus and method for controlling distribution of product in manufacturing process	January, 2002	Ladd
6340602	Method of measuring meso-scale structures on wafers	January, 2002	Johnson et al.
6345288	Computer-based communication system and method using metadata defining a control-structure	February, 2002	Reed et al.
6345315	Method for platform and protocol independent communication between client-server pairs	February, 2002	Mishra
6346426	Method and apparatus for characterizing semiconductor device performance variations based on independent critical dimension measurements	February, 2002	Toprac et al.
6355559	Passivation of inlaid metallization	March, 2002	Havemann et al.
6360133	Method and apparatus for automatic routing for reentrant process	March, 2002	Campbell et al.
6360184	Method for measuring a degree of association for dimensionally referenced data	March, 2002	Jacquez
6363294	Method and system for semiconductor wafer fabrication process real-time in-situ interactive supervision	March, 2002	Coronel et al.
6366934	Method and apparatus for querying structured documents using a database extender	April, 2002	Cheng et al.
6368879	Process control with control signal derived from metrology of a repetitive critical dimension feature of a test structure on the work piece	April, 2002	Toprac
6368883	Method for identifying and controlling impact of ambient conditions on photolithography processes	April, 2002	Bode et al.
6368884	Die-based in-fab process monitoring and analysis system for semiconductor processing	April, 2002	Goodwin et al.
6379980	Method and apparatus for monitoring material removal tool performance using endpoint time removal rate determination	April, 2002	Toprac
6381564	Method and system for using response-surface methodologies to determine optimal tuning parameters for complex simulators	April, 2002	Davis et al.
6388253	Integrated critical dimension control for semiconductor device manufacturing	May, 2002	Su
6389491	Test instrumentation I/O communication interface and method	May, 2002	Jacobson et al.
6391780	Method to prevent copper CMP dishing	May, 2002	Shih et al.
6395152	Methods and apparatus for electropolishing metal interconnections on semiconductor devices	May, 2002	Wang
6397114	Device in a process system for detecting events	May, 2002	Eryurek et al.
6400162	Capacitive displacement sensor for measuring thin targets	June, 2002	Mallory et al.
6405096	Method and apparatus for run-to-run controlling of overlay registration	June, 2002	Toprac et al.
6405144	Method and apparatus for programmed latency for improving wafer-to-wafer uniformity	June, 2002	Toprac et al.
6417014	Method and apparatus for reducing wafer to wafer deposition variation	July, 2002	Lam et al.
6427093	Method and apparatus for optimal wafer-by-wafer processing	July, 2002	Toprac
6432728	Method for integration optimization by chemical mechanical planarization end-pointing technique	August, 2002	Tai et al.
6435952	Apparatus and method for qualifying a chemical mechanical planarization process	August, 2002	Boyd et al.
6438438	Method and system for manufacturing semiconductor devices, and method and system for inspecting semiconductor devices	August, 2002	Takagi et al.
6440295	Method for electropolishing metal on semiconductor devices	August, 2002	Wang
6442496	Method and apparatus for dynamic sampling of a production line	August, 2002	Pasadyn et al.
6449524	Method and apparatus for using equipment state data for run-to-run control of manufacturing tools	September, 2002	Miller et al.
6455415	Method of encapsulated copper (Cu) interconnect formation	September, 2002	Lopatin et al.
6455937	Arrangement and method for improved downward scaling of higher conductivity metal-based interconnects	September, 2002	Cunningham
6465263	Method and apparatus for implementing corrected species by monitoring specific state parameters	October, 2002	Coss, Jr. et al.
6470230	Supervisory method for determining optimal process targets based on product performance in microelectronic fabrication	October, 2002	Toprac et al.
6479902	Semiconductor catalytic layer and atomic layer deposition thereof	November, 2002	Lopatin et al.
6479990	Eddy current sensor for analyzing a test object and method of operating same	November, 2002	Mednikov et al.
6482660	Effective channel length control using ion implant feed forward	November, 2002	Conchieri et al.
6484064	Method and apparatus for running metrology standard wafer routes for cross-fab metrology calibration	November, 2002	Campbell
6486492	Integrated critical dimension control for semiconductor device manufacturing	November, 2002	Su
6492281	Method of fabricating conductor structures with metal comb bridging avoidance	December, 2002	Song et al.
6495452	Method to reduce capacitance for copper interconnect structures	December, 2002	Shih
6503839	Endpoint stabilization for polishing process	January, 2003	Gonzales et al.
6515368	Semiconductor device with copper-filled via includes a copper-zinc/alloy film for reduced electromigration of copper	February, 2003	Lopatin et al.
6517413	Method for a copper CMP endpoint detection system	February, 2003	Hu et al.
6517414	Method and apparatus for controlling a pad conditioning process of a chemical-mechanical polishing apparatus	February, 2003	Tobin et al.
6528409	Interconnect structure formed in porous dielectric material with minimized degradation and electromigration	March, 2003	Lopatin et al.
6529789	Method and apparatus for automatic routing for reentrant processes	March, 2003	Campbell et al.
6532555	Method and apparatus for integration of real-time tool data and in-line metrology for fault detection in an advanced process control (APC) framework	March, 2003	Miller et al.
6535783	Method and apparatus for the integration of sensor data from a process tool in an advanced process control (APC) framework	March, 2003	Miller et al.
6537912	Method of forming an encapsulated conductive pillar	March, 2003	Agarwal
6539267	Device in a process system for determining statistical parameter	March, 2003	Eryurek et al.
6540591	Method and apparatus for post-polish thickness and uniformity control	April, 2003	Pasadyn et al.
6541401	Wafer pretreatment to decrease rate of silicon dioxide deposition on silicon nitride compared to silicon substrate	April, 2003	Herner et al.
6546508	Method and apparatus for fault detection of a processing tool in an advanced process control (APC) framework	April, 2003	Sonderman et al.
6556881	Method and apparatus for integrating near real-time fault detection in an APC framework	April, 2003	Miller
6556959	Method and apparatus for updating a manufacturing model based upon fault data relating to processing of semiconductor wafers	April, 2003	Miller et al.	703/2
6560504	Use of contamination-free manufacturing data in fault detection and classification as well as in run-to-run control	May, 2003	Goodwin et al.
6563308	Eddy current loss measuring sensor, thickness measuring system, thickness measuring method, and recorded medium	May, 2003	Nagano et al.
6567717	Feed-forward control of TCI doping for improving mass-production-wise, statistical distribution of critical performance parameters in semiconductor devices	May, 2003	Krivokapic et al.
6580958	Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and device manufacturing method	June, 2003	Takano
6587744	Run-to-run controller for use in microelectronic fabrication	July, 2003	Stoddard et al.
6590179	Plasma processing apparatus and method	July, 2003	Tanaka et al.
6604012	Lots dispatching method for variably arranging processing equipment and/or processing conditions in a succeeding process according to the results of a preceding process and apparatus for the same	August, 2003	Cho et al.
6605549	Method for improving nucleation and adhesion of CVD and ALD films deposited onto low-dielectric-constant dielectrics	August, 2003	Leu et al.
6607976	Copper interconnect barrier layer structure and formation method	August, 2003	Chen et al.
6609946	Method and system for polishing a semiconductor wafer	August, 2003	Tran
6616513	Grid relief in CMP polishing pad to accurately measure pad wear, pad profile and pad wear profile	September, 2003	Osterheld
6618692	Remote diagnostic system and method for semiconductor manufacturing equipment	September, 2003	Takahashi et al.
6624075	Method of reducing electromigration in a copper line by Zinc-Doping of a copper surface from an electroplated copper-zinc alloy thin film and a semiconductor device thereby formed	September, 2003	Lopatin et al.
6625497	Semiconductor processing module with integrated feedback/feed forward metrology	September, 2003	Fairbairn et al.
6630741	Method of reducing electromigration by ordering zinc-doping in an electroplated copper-zinc interconnect and a semiconductor device thereby formed	October, 2003	Lopatin et al.
6640151	Multi-tool control system, method and medium	October, 2003	Somekh et al.
6652355	Method and apparatus for detecting an end-point in chemical mechanical polishing of metal layers	November, 2003	Wiswesser et al.
6660633	Method of reducing electromigration in a copper line by electroplating an interim copper-zinc alloy thin film on a copper surface and a semiconductor device thereby formed	December, 2003	Lopatin et al.
6678570	Method and apparatus for determining output characteristics using tool state data	January, 2004	Pasadyn et al.
6684114	Efficient adaptive feedforward periodic disturbance compensation	January, 2004	Erickson et al.
6687558	Manufacturing design and process analysis system	February, 2004	Tuszynski
6708074	Generic interface builder	March, 2004	Chi et al.
6708075	Method and apparatus for utilizing integrated metrology data as feed-forward data	March, 2004	Sonderman et al.
6725402	Method and apparatus for fault detection of a processing tool and control thereof using an advanced process control (APC) framework	April, 2004	Coss, Jr. et al.
6728587	Method for global automated process control	April, 2004	Goldman et al.
6735492	Feedback method utilizing lithographic exposure field dimensions to predict process tool overlay settings	May, 2004	Conrad et al.
6748280	Semiconductor run-to-run control system with state and model parameter estimation	June, 2004	Zou et al.
6751518	Dynamic process state adjustment of a processing tool to reduce non-uniformity	June, 2004	Sonderman et al.
6766214	Adjusting a sampling rate based on state estimation results	July, 2004	Wang et al.
6774998	Method and apparatus for identifying misregistration in a complimentary phase shift mask process	August, 2004	Wright et al.
6961626	Dynamic offset and feedback threshold	November, 2005	Paik	700/31
7096085	Process control by distinguishing a white noise component of a process variance	August, 2006	Paik	700/108
20030065409	Adaptively detecting an event of interest	April, 2003	Raeth et al.	700/31
20040107895	Quartz thin film	June, 2004	Takahashi et al.
20040267395	System and method for dynamic multi-objective optimization of machine selection, integration and utilization	December, 2004	Discenzo et al.

CA2050247	August, 1991
CA2165847	August, 1991
CA2194855	August, 1991
EP0397924	November, 1990			Work station controller module.
EP0621522	October, 1994			Facility and gas management system.
EP0747795	December, 1996			A system for generically describing and scheduling operation of a modular printing machine
EP0869652	October, 1998			Document delivery system
EP0877308	November, 1998			Control apparatus and c
EP0881040	December, 1998			Method and apparatus for in-situ monitoring of thickness using a multi-wavelength spectrometer during chemical-mechanical polishing
EP0895145	February, 1999			Process control device
EP0910123	April, 1999			PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEM
EP0932194	July, 1999			Method and system for semiconductor wafer fabrication process real-time in-situ interactive supervision
EP0932195	July, 1999			Method and system for semiconductor wafer fabrication process real-time in-situ supervision
EP1066925	January, 2001			Closed loop control of wafer polishing in a chemical mechanical polishing system
EP1067757	January, 2001			Curled surface imaging system
EP1071128	January, 2001			Real time defect source identification on a semiconductor substrate
EP1083470	March, 2001			Multi-computer chamber control system, method and medium
EP1092505	April, 2001			Method of controlling a polishing machine
EP1072967	November, 2001			Computer integrated manufacturing techniques
EP1182526	February, 2002			Method and apparatus for minimizing Run-to-Run variation
GB2347885	September, 2000
GB2365215	February, 2002
JP6166104	April, 1986
JP61171147	August, 1986
JP01283934	November, 1989			ETCHING APPARATUS
JP3202710	September, 1991			DICHROIC PRISM FOR LIQUID CRYSTAL PROJECTOR
JP05151231	June, 1993			MANUFACTURING PROCESS MANAGING SYSTEM
JP05216896	August, 1993			MANUFACTURING PROCESS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
JP05266029	October, 1993			PROCESS FLOW PREPARING DEVICE
JP06110894	April, 1994
JP06176994	June, 1994			MANUFACTURING-RULE CHECK SYSTEM
JP06184434	July, 1994			THERMOPLASTIC RESIN COMPOSITION
JP06252236	September, 1994			APPARATUS FOR CHECKING AND SIMULATION OF PROCESS FLOW
JP06260380	September, 1994			SEMICONDUCTOR PRODUCTION SYSTEM
JP0823166	January, 1996
JP0850161	February, 1996
JP08149583	June, 1996			PROCESS CONTROLLER AND DATA MONITOR METHOD
JP08304023	November, 1996
JP0934535	February, 1997
JP9246547	September, 1997
JP1034522	February, 1998
JP10173029	June, 1998			METHOD OF DETERMINING MEASURING POSITIONS OF WAFER
JP1167853	March, 1999
JP11126816	May, 1999			METHOD FOR CORRECTING AND DECIDING COORDINATES OF OBJECTIVE POINT ON WAFER
JP11135601	May, 1999			METHOD FOR CREATING MEASUREMENT INFORMATION AND MEASUREMENT POSITION OF WAFER
JP2000183001	June, 2000
JP200176982	March, 2001
JP2001284201	October, 2001
JP2001284299	October, 2001
JP2001305108	October, 2001
JP20029030	January, 2002
JP2002343754	November, 2002
TW434103	May, 2001
TW436383	May, 2001
TW455938	September, 2001
TW455976	September, 2001
WO-9534866	December, 1995
WO-9805066	February, 1998
WO-9845090	October, 1998
WO-9909371	February, 1999
WO-9925520	May, 1999
WO-9959200	November, 1999
WO-0000874	January, 2000
WO-0005759	February, 2000
WO-0035063	June, 2000
WO-0054325	September, 2000
WO-0079355	December, 2000
WO-0111679	February, 2001
WO-0115865	March, 2001
WO-0118623	March, 2001
WO-0125865	April, 2001
WO-0133277	May, 2001
WO-0133501	May, 2001
WO-0152055	July, 2001
WO-0152319	July, 2001
WO-0157823	August, 2001
WO-0180306	October, 2001
WO-0217150	February, 2002
WO-0231613	April, 2002
WO-0233737	April, 2002
WO-02074491	September, 2002

1999. “Contactless Bulk Resistivity/Sheet Resistance Measurement and Mapping Systems,” www.Lehighton.com/fattechl/index.html.
2000. “Microsense II Capacitance Gaging System,” www.adetech.com.
2002. “Microsense II—5810: Non-Contact Capacitance Gaging Module.” www.adetech.com.
“3D optical profilometer MicroXAM by ADE Phase Shift.” Printed Dec. 9, 2003. http://www.phase-shift.com/microxam.shtml.
ACM Research Inc. 2000. “Advanced Copper Metallization for 0.13 to 0.05 & Beyond.” http://acmrc.com/press/ACM-ECP-brochure.
ACM Research, Inc. 2002. “ACM Ultra ECP System: Electro-Copper Plating (ECP) Deposition.” www.acmrc.com/ecp.html.
Adams, Bret W., Bogdan Swedek, Rajeev Bajaj, Fritz Redeker, Manush Birang, and Gregory Amico. “Full-Wafer Endpoint Detection Improves Process Control in Copper CMP.” Semiconductor Fabtech 12th Edition. Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA.
“ADE Technologies, Inc. 6360.” Printed Dec. 9, 2003. http://www.adetech.com/6360.shtml.
Applied Materials, Inc. 2002. “Applied Materials: Information for Everyone: Copper Electrochemical Plating.” www.appliedmaterials.com/products/copper—plating.html.
Apr. 22, 2004. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/998,372, filed Nov. 30, 2001.
Apr. 28, 2004. Written Opinion for PCT/US02/19117.
Apr. 29, 2004. Written Opinion for PCT/US02/19061.
Apr. 9, 2003. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/928,474, filed Aug. 14, 2001.
Apr. 9, 2004. Written Opinion for PCT/US02/19116.
Aug. 1, 2003. Written Opinion for PCT/US01/27406.
Aug. 18, 2004. International Preliminary Examination Report for PCT Serial No. PCT/US02/19116.
Aug. 2, 2004. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 10/174,377, filed Jun. 18, 2002.
Aug. 20, 2003. Written Opinion for PCT/US01/22833.
Aug. 24, 2004. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 10/135,405, filed May 1, 2002.
Aug. 25, 2003. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 10/100,184, filed Mar. 19, 2002.
Aug. 25, 2004. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/998,384, filed Nov. 30, 2001.
Aug. 8, 2003. PCT International Search Report from PCT/US03/08513.
Aug. 9, 2004. Written Opinion for PCT Serial No. PCT/US02/19063.
Baliga, John. Jul. 1999. “Advanced Process Control: Soon to be a Must.” Cahners Semiconductor International. www.semiconductor.net/semiconductor/issues/issues/1999/jul99/docs/feature1.asp.
Berman, Mike, Thomas Bibby, and Alan Smith. “Review of In Situ & In-line Detection for CMP Applications.” Semiconductor Fabtech, 8th Edition, pp. 267-274.
Boning, Duane S., Jerry Stefani, and Stephanie W. Butler. Feb. 1999. “Statistical Methods for Semiconductor Manufacturing.” Encyclopedia of Electrical Engineering, J. G. Webster, Ed.
Boning, Duane S., William P. Moyne, Taber H. Smith, James Moyne, Ronald Telfeyan, Amon Hurwitz, Scott Shellman, and John Taylor. Oct. 1996. “Run by Run Control of Chemical-Mechanical Polishing.” IEEE Transactions and Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing Technology, Part C, vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 307-314.
Burke, Peter A. Jun. 1991, “Semi-Empirical Modelling of SiO2 Chemical-Mechanical Polishing Planarization.” VMIC Conference, 1991 IEEE, pp. 379-384. IEEE.
Campbell, W. J., S. K. Firth, A. J. Toprac, and T. F. Edgar. May 2002. “A Comparison of Run-to-Run Control Algorithms (Abstract).” Proceedings of 2002 American Control Conference, vol. 3, pp. 2105-2155.
Campbell, W. Jarrett, and Anthony J. Toprac. Feb. 11-12, 1998. “Run-to-Run Control in Microelectronics Manufacturing.” Advanced Micro Devises, TWMCC.
Chang, E., B. Stine, T. Maung, R. Divecha, D. Boning, J. Chung, K. Chang, G. Ray, D. Bradbury, O. S. Nakagawa, S. Oh, and D. Bartelink. Dec. 1995. “Using a Statistical Metrology Framework to Identify Systemic and Random Sources of Die- and Wafer-level ILD Thickness Variation in CMP Processes.” Washington, D.C.: International Electron Devices Meeting.
Chang, Norman H. and Costas J. Spanos. Feb. 1991. “Continuous Equipment Diagnosis Using Evidence Integration: An LPCVD Application.” IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing, v. 4, n. 1 pp. 43-51.
Chemali, Chadi El, James Moyne, Kareemullah Khan, Rock Nadeau, Paul Smith, John Colt, Jonathan Chapple-Sokol, and Tarun Parikh. Jul./Aug. 2000. “Multizone Uniformity Control of a Chemical Mechanical Polishing Process Utilizing a Pre- and Postmeasurement Strategy.” J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A, vol. 18(4). pp. 1287-1296. American Vacuum Society.
Chemali, Chai El, James Moyne, Kareemullah Khan, Rock Nadeau, Paul Smith, John Colt, Jonathan Chapple-Sokol, and Tarum Parikh. Nov. 1998. “Multizone Uniformity Control of a CMP Process Utilizing a Pre and Post-Measurement Strategy.” Seattle, Washington: SEMETECH Symposium.
Chen, Argon and Ruey-Shan Guo. Feb. 2001. “Age-Based Double EWMA Controller and its Application to CMP Processes.” IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing, vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 11-19.
Cheung, Robin. Oct. 18, 2000. “Copper Interconnect Technology.” AVS/CMP User Group Meeting, Santa Clara, CA.
Consilium Corporate Brochure. Oct. 1999. www.consilium.com.
Consilium. 1998. FAB300. Mountain View, California: Consilium, Inc.
Consilium. Aug. 1998. Quality Management Component: and QMC Overview. Mountain View, California: Consilium, Inc.
Consilium. Jan. 1999. “FAB300: Consilium's Next Generation MES Solution of Software and Services which Control and Automate Real-Time FAB Operations.” www.consilium.com/products/fab300—page.htm#FAB300 Introduction.
Consilium. Jul. 1999. “Increasing Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) in Fab Manufacturing by Implementing Consilium's Next-Generating Manufacturing Execution System —MES II.” Semiconductor Fabtech Edition 10.
Consilium. Nov. 1999. FAB300 Update.
Cunninhgham, James A. 2003. “Using Electrochemisty to Improve Copper Interconnects.” http://www.e-insite.net/semiconductor/.
Dec. 1, 2003. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 10/173,108, filed Jun. 2002.
Dec. 11, 2003. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/943,383, Aug. 31, 2001.
Dec. 16, 2003. International Search Report for PCT/US03/23964.
Dec. 17, 2002. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/363,966, filed Jul. 29, 1999.
Dishon, G., D. Eylon, M. Finarov, and A. Shulman. “Dielectric CMP Advanced Process Control Based on Integrated Monitoring.” Ltd. Rehoveth, Israel: Nova Measuring Instruments.
Dishon, G., M. Finarov, R. Kipper, J.W. Curry, T. Schraub, D. Trojan, Stambaugh, Y. Li and J. Ben-Jacob. Feb. 1996. “On-Line Integrated Metrology for CMP Processing.” Santa Clara, California: VMIC Speciality Conferences, International CMP Planarization Conference.
Durham, Jim and Myriam Roussel. 1997. “A Statistical Method for Correlating In-Line Defectivity to Probe Yield.” IEEE/SEMI Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference, pp. 76-77.
Edgar, T. F., W. J. Campbell, and C. Bode. Dec. 1999. “Model-Based Control in Microelectronics Manufacturing.” Proceedings of the 38th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, Pheonix, Arizona, vol. 4, pp. 4185-4191.
Edgar, Thomas F., Stephanie W. Butler, Jarrett Campbell, Carlos Pfieffer, Chris Bode, Snug Bo Hwang, and K.S. Balakrishnan. May 1998. “Automatic Control in Microelectronics Manufacturing: Practices, Challenges, and Possibilities.” Automatica, vol. 36, pp. 1567-1603, 2000.
Edgar, Thomas F., Stephanie W. Butler, W. Jarrett Campbell. Carlos Pfeiffer, Christopher Bode, Sung Bo Hwang, K. S. Balakrishnan, and J. Hahn. Nov. 2000. “Automatic Control in Microelectronics Manufacturing: Practices, Challenges, and Possibilities (Abstract).” Automatica, v. 36, n. 11.
Eisenbraun, Eric, Oscar van der Straten, Yu Zhu, Katharine Dovidenko, and Alain Kaloyeros. 2001. “Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) of Tantalum-Based Materials for Zero Thickness Copper Barrier Applications” (Abstract). IEEE pp. 207-209.
Elers, Kai-Erik, Ville Saanila, Pekka J. Soininen, Wei-Min Li, Juhana T. Kostamo, Suvi Haukka, Jyrki Juhanoja, and Wim F.A. Besling. 2002. “Diffusion Barrier Deposition on a Copper Surface by Atomic Layer Deposition” (Abstract). Advanced Materials vol. 14, No. 13-14, pp. 149-153.
Fan, Jr-Min, Ruey-Shan Guo, Shi-Chung Chang, and Kian-Huei Lee. 1996. “Abnormal Trend Detection of Sequence-Disordered Data Using EWMA Method.” IEEE/SEMI Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference, pp. 169-174.
Fang, S. J., A. Barda, T. Janecko, W. Little, D. Outley, Hempel, S. Joshi, B. Morrison, G. B. Shinn, and M. Birang. 1998. “Control of Dielectric Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) Using and Interferometry Based Endpoint Sensor.” International Proceedings of the IEEE Interconnect Technology Conference, pp. 76-78.
Feb. 10, 2003. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/619,044, filed Jul. 19, 2000.
Feb. 1984. “ Method and Apparatus of in Situ Measurement and Overlay Error Analysis for Correcting Step and Repeat Lithographic Cameras.” IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, pp. 4855-4859.
Feb. 1984. “Substrate Screening Process.” IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, pp. 4824-4825.
Feb. 1993, “Electroless Plating Scheme to Hermetically Seal Copper Features.” IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin. pp. 405-406.
Feb. 2, 2004. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/363,966, filed Jul. 29, 1999.
Good, Richard and S. Joe Qin. May 2002. “Stability Analysis of Double EWMA Run-to-Run Control with Metrology Delay.” IEEE/CPMT International Electronics Manufacturing Technology Symposium, pp. 355-363.
Guo, R.S, A. Chen, C.L. Tseng, I.K. Fong, A. Yang, C.L. Lee, C.H. Wu, S. Lin, S.J. Huang, Y.C. Lee, S.G. Chang, and M.Y. Lee. Jun. 16-17, 1998. “A Real-Time Equipment Monitoring and Fault Detection System.” Semiconductor Manufacturing Workshop, pp. 111-121.
Guo, Ruey-Shan, Li-Shia Huang, Argon Chen, and Jin-Jung Chen. Oct. 1997. “A Cost-Effective Methodology for a Run-by-Run EWMA Controller.” 6th International Symposium on Semiconductor Manufacturing, pp. 61-64.
Hermann, D. 1988. “Temperature Errors and Ways of Elimination for Contactless Measurement of Shaft Vibrations (Abstract).” Technisches, vol. 55, No. 1, pp. 27-30. West Germany.
Heuberger, U. Sep. 2001. “Coating Thickness Measurement with Dual-Function Eddy-Current & Magnetic Inductance Instrument (Abstract).” Galvanotechnik, vol. 92, No. 9, pp. 2354-2366.
Hu, Albert, He Du, Steve Wong, Peter Rentein, and Emmanual Sachs. 1994. “Application of Run by Run Controller to the Chemical-Mechanical Planarization Process.” IEEE/CPMT Internationanl Electronics Manufacturing Technology Symposium, pp. 371-378.
Hu, Albert, Kevin Nguyen, Steve Wong, Xiuhua Zhang, Emanuel Sachs, and Peter Renteln. 1993. “Concurrent Deployment of Run by Run Controller Using SCC Framework.” IEEE/SEMI International Semiconductor Manufacturing Science Symposium. pp. 126-132.
Islam Raja, M. M., C. Chang, J. P. McVittie, M. A. Cappelli, and K. C. Saraswat. May/Jun. 1993. “Two Precursor Model for Low-Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition of Silicon Dioxide from Tetraethylorthosilicate.” J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B, vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 720-726.
Itabashi, Takeyuki, Hiroshi Nakano, and Haruo Akahoshi. Jun. 2002. “Electroless Deposited CoWB for Copper Diffusion Barrier Metal.” IEEE International Interconnect Technology Conference, pp. 285-287.
Jan. 20, 2004. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/927,444, filed Aug. 13, 2001.
Jan. 23, 2004. International Search Report for PCT/US02/24860.
Jensen, Alan, Peter Renteln, Stephen Jew, Chris Raeder, and Patrick Cheung. Jun. 2001. “Empirical-Based Modeling for Control of CMP Removal Uniformity.” Solid State Technology, vol. 44, No. 6, pp. 101-102, 104, 106. Cowan Publ. Corp.: Washington, D.C.
Johnson, Bob. Jun. 10, 2002. “Advanced Process Control Key to Moore's Law.” Gartner, Inc.
Jul. 12, 2004. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 10/173,108, filed Jun. 8, 2002.
Jul. 15, 2004. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 10/172,977, filed Jun. 18, 2002.
Jul. 1998. “Active Controller: Utilizing Active Databases for Implementing Multistop Control of Semiconductor Manufacturing (Abstract).” IEEE Transactions on Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology—Part C, vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 217-224.
Jul. 23, 2002. Communication Pursuant to Article 96(2) EPC for European Patent Application No. 00 115 577.9.
Jul. 23, 2003. Invitation to Pay Additional Fees and Communication Relating to the Results of the Partial International Search for PCT/US02/19116.
Jul. 25, 2003. International Search Report for PCT/US02/24858.
Jul. 29, 2002. International Search Report for PCT/US01/27407.
Jul. 5, 2001. “Motorola and Advanced Micro Devices Buy ObjectSpace Catalyst Advanced Process Control Product for Five Wafer Fabs.” Semiconductor FABTECH. www.semiconductorfabtech.com/industry.news/9907/20.07.shtml.
Jul. 9, 2002. International Search Report for PCT/US01/24910.
Jun. 18, 2003. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/655,542, filed Sep. 6, 2000.
Jun. 20, 2002. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/619,044, filed Jul. 19, 2000.
Jun. 23, 2004. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 10/686,589, filed Oct. 17, 2003.
Jun. 3, 2004. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/928,474, filed Aug. 14, 2001.
Jun. 30, 2004. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/800,980, filed Mar. 8, 2001.
Khan, K., C. El Chemali, J. Moyne, J. Chapple-Sokol, R. Nadeau, P. Smith, C., and T. Parikh. Oct. 1999. “Yield Improvement at the Contact Process Through Run-to-Run Control (Abstract).” 24th IEEE/CPMT Electronics Manufacturing Technology Symposium, pp. 258-263.
Khan, Kareemullah, Victor Solakhain, Anthony Ricci, Tier Gu, and James Moyne. 1998. “Run-to-Run Control of ITO Deposition Process.” Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Khan, S., M. Musavi, and H. Ressom. Nov. 2000. “Critical Dimension Control in Semiconductor Manufacturing (Abstract).” ANNIE 2000. Smart Engineering Systems Design Conference, pp. 995-1000. St. Louis. Missouri.
Kim, Eui Jung and William N. Gill. Jul. 1994. “Analytical Model for Chemical Vapor Deposition of SiO2 Films Using Tetraethoxysliane and Ozone” (Abstract). Journal of Crystal Growth, vol. 140, Issues 3-4, pp. 315-326.
Kim, Y.T. and H. Sim. 2002. “Characteristics of Pulse Plasma Enhanced Atomic Layer Deposition of Tungsten Nitride Diffusion Barrier for Copper Interconnect” (Abstract). IEIC Technical Report. vol. 102, No. 178, pp. 115-118.
KLA-Tencor Corporation. 2002. “KLA Tencor: Press Release: KLA-Tencor Introduces First Production-Worthy Copper CMP In-Situ Film Thickness and End-point Control System: Multi-Million Dollar Order Shipped to Major CMP Tool Manufacturer.” www.kia-tencor.com/news—events/press—releases/press—releases2001/984086002.html.
Klein, Bruce. Jun. 1999. “Application Development: XML Makes Object Models More Useful.” Informationweek. pp. 1A-6A.
Kurtzberg, Jerome M. and Menachem Levanoni, Jan. 1994. “ABC: A Better Control for Manufacturing.” IBM Journal of Research and Development, v. 38, n. 1, pp. 11-30.
Lantz, Mikkel. 1999. “Equipment and APC Integration at AMD with Workstream.” IEEE, pp. 325-327.
Larrabee, G. B. May 1991. “The Intelligent Microelectronics Factory of the Future (Abstract).” IEEE/SEMI International Semiconductor Manufacturing Science Symposium, pp. 30-34. Burlingame, CA.
Leang, Sovarong, Shang-Yi Ma, John Thomson, Bart John Bombay, and Costas J. Spanos. May 1996. “A Control System for Photolighographic Sequences.” IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing, vol. 9, No. 2.
Lee, Brian, Duane S. Boning, Winthrop Baylies, Noel Poduje, Pat Hester, Yong Xia, John Valley, Chris Koliopoulus, Dale Hetherington, HongJiang Sun, and Michael Lacy. Apr. 2001.
“Wafer Nanotopography Effects on CMP: Experimental Validation of Modeling Methods.” San Francisco, California: Materials Research Society Spring Meeting.
Levine, Martin D. 1985. Vision in Man and Machine. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. pp. ix-xii, 1-58.
Lin, Kuang-Kuo and Costas J. Spanos. Nov. 1990. “Statistical Equipment Modeling for VLSI Manufacturing: An Application for LPCVD.” IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing, v. 3, n. 4, pp. 216-229.
Mar. 15, 2002. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/469,227, filed Dec. 22, 1999.
Mar. 25, 2003. International Search Report for PCT/US02/24859.
Mar. 29, 2002. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/363,966, filed Jul. 29, 1999.
Mar. 30, 2004. Written Opinion for PCT/US02/19062.
Mar. 5, 2001. “KLA-Tencor Introduces First Production-worthy Copper CMP In-situ Film Thickness and End-point Control System.” http://www.kla-tencor.com.
Matsuyama, Akira and Jessi Niou. 1993. “A State-of-the-Art Automation System of an ASIC Wafer Fab in Japan.” IEEE/SEMI International Semiconductor Manufacturing Science Symposium, pp. 42-47.
May 1992. “Lawer Ablation Endpoint Detector.” IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, pp. 333-334.
May 23, 2003. Written Opinion for PCT/US01/24910.
May 28, 2004. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/943,383, filed Aug. 31, 2001.
May 5, 2004. International Preliminary Examination Report for PCT/US01/27406.
May 5, 2004. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/943,955, filed Aug. 31, 2001.
May 8, 2003. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/637,620, filed Aug. 11, 2000.
McIntosh, John. Mar. 1999. “Using CD-SEM Metrology in the Manufacture of Semiconductors (Abstract).” JOM, vol. 51, No. 3, pp. 38-39.
Meckl, P. H. and K. Umemoto. Apr. 2000. “Achieving Fast Motions by Using Shaped Reference Inputs [Semiconductor Manufacturing Machine] (Abstract).” NEC Research and Development, vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 232-237.
Meckl, P.H. and K. Umemoto. Aug. 1999. “Achieving Fast Motions in Semiconductor Manufacturing Machinery (Abstract).” Proceedings of the 1999 IEEE International Conference on Control Applications, vol. 1, pp. 725-729, Kohala Coast, HI.
Miller, G. L., D. A. H. Robinson, and J. D. Wiley. Jul. 1976. “Contactless measurement of semiconductor conductivity by radio frequency-free-carrier power absorption.” Rev. Sci. Instrum., vol. 47, No. 7. pp. 799-805.
Moyne, J., V. Solakhian, A. Yershov, M. Anderson, and D. Mockler-Herbert. Apr.-May 2002. “Development and Deployment of a Multi-Component Advanced Process Control System for an Epitaxy Tool (Abstract).” 2002 IEEE Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference and Workshop, pp. 125-130.
Moyne, James R., Nauman Chaudhry, and Roland Telfeyan. 1995. “Adaptive Extensions to a Multi-Branch Run-to-Run Controller for Plasma Etching.” Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Display Technology Manufacturing Center.
Moyne, James, and John Curry. Jun. 1998. “A Fully Automated Chemical-Mechanical Planarization Process.” Santa Clara, California: VLSI Multilevel Interconnection (V-MIC) Conference.
Moyne, James, Roland Telfeyan, Arnon Hurwitz, and John Taylor. Aug. 1995. “A Process-Independent Run-to-Run Controller and Its Application to Chemical-Mechanical Planarization.” SEMI/IEEE Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference and Workshop. Ann Arbor, Michigan: The University of Michigan, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Center for Display Technology & Manufacturing.
Moyne, James. Oct. 1999. “Advancements in CMP Process Automation and Control.” Hawaii: (Invited paper and presentation to) Third International Symposium on Chemical Mechanical Polishing in IC Device Manufacturing: 196th Meeting of the Electrochemical Society.
Mozumder, Pumendu K. and Gabriel G. Barna. Feb. 1994. “Statistical Feedback Control of a Plasma Etch Process.” IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing, v. 7, n. 1, pp. 1-11.
Muller-Heinzerling, Thomas, Ulrich Neu, Hans Georg Numberg, and Wolfgang May. Mar. 1994. “Recipe-Controlled Operation of Batch Processes with Batch X.” ATP Automatisierungstechnische Praxis, vol. 36, No. 3, pp.43-51.
Mullins, J. A., W. J. Campbell, and A. D. Stock. Oct. 1997. “An Evaluation of Model Predictive Control in Run-to-Run Processing in Semiconductor Manufacturing (Abstract).” Proceedings of the SPIE;The International Society for Optical Engineering Conference, vol. 3213, pp. 182-189.
“NanoMapper FA factory automation wafer nanotopography measurement.” Printed Dec. 9, 2003. http://www.phase-shift.com/nanomapperfa.shtml.
“NanoMapper wafer nanotopography measurement by ADE Phase Shift.” Printed Dec. 9, 2003. http://www.phase-shift.com/nanomap.shtml.
Nov. 11, 2002. International Search Report for PCT/US02/19117.
Nov. 12, 2002. International Search Report for PCT/US02/19063.
Nov. 17, 2004. Written Opinion for PCT Serial No. PCT/US01/27407.
Nov. 1999. “How to Use EWMA to Achieve SPC and EPC Control.” International Symposium on NDT Contribution to the Infrastructure Safety Systems, Tores, Brazil. http://www.ndt/abstract/ndtiss99/data/35.
Nov. 5, 2003. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 10/172,977, filed Jun. 18, 2002.
Nov. 7, 2002. International Search Report for PCT/US02/19061.
NovaScan 2020. Feb. 2002. “Superior Integrated Process Control for Emerging CMP High-End Applications.”
Oct. 1, 2004. International Preliminary Examination Report for PCT Serial No. PCT/US03/23964.
Oct. 12, 2004. International Preliminary Examination Report for PCT Serial No. PCT/US02/19061.
Oct. 14, 2003. PCT International Search Report from PCT/US02/21942.
Oct. 15, 2001. Search Report prepared by the Austrian Patent Office for Singapore Patent Application No. 200004286-1.
Oct. 15, 2002. International Search Report for PCT/US02/19062.
Oct. 1984. “Method to Characterize the Stability of a Step and Repeat Lighographic System.” IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, pp. 2857-2860.
Oct. 20, 2003. PCT International Search Report from PCT/US02/19116.
Oct. 23, 2002. International Search Report for PCT/US01/27406.
Oct. 23, 2002. Office Action for U.S. App. No. 09/469,227, filed Dec. 22, 1999.
Oct. 23, 2003. PCT International Preliminary Examination Report from PCT/US01/24910.
Oct. 4, 2002. International Search Report for PCT/US01/22833.
Oct. 6, 2004. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 10/759,108, filed Jan. 20, 2004.
Oechsner, R., T. Tschaftary, S. Sommer, L. Pfitzner, H. Ryssel, H. Gerath, C. Baier, and M. Hafner. Sep. 2000. “Feed-forward Control for a Lithography/Etch Sequence (Abstract).” Proceedings of the SPIE—The International Society for Optical Engineering Conference, vol. 4182, pp. 31-39.
Ostanin, Yu.Ya. Oct. 1981. “Optimization of Thickness Inspection of Electrically Conductive Single-Layer Coatings with Laid-on Eddy-Current Transducers (Abstract).” Defektoskopiya, vol. 17, No. 10, pp. 45-52. Moscow, USSR.
Ouma, Dennis, Duane Boning, James Chung, Greg Shinn, Leif Olsen, and John Clark. 1998. “An Integrated Characterization and Modeling Methodology for CMP Dielectric Planarization.” Proceedings of the IEEE 1998 International Interconnect Technology Conference, pp. 67-69.
Pan, J. Tony, Ping Li, Kapola Wijekoon, Stan Tsai, and Fritz Redeker, May 1999. “Copper CMP Integration and Time Dependent Pattern Effect.” IEEE 1999 International Interconnect Technology Conference, pp. 164-166.
Peng, C.H., C.H. Hsieh, C.L. Huang, J.C. Lin, M.H. Tsai, M.W. Lin, C.L. Chang, Winston S. Shue, and M.S. Liang. 2002. “A 90nm Generation Copper Dual Damascene Technology with ALD TaN Barrier.” IEEE pp. 603-606.
Pilu, Maurizio. Sep. 2001. “Undoing Page Curl Distortion Using Applicable Surfaces.” IEEE International Conference on Image Processing. Thessalonica, Greece.
Rampalli, Prasad, Arakere Ramesh, and Nimish Shah. 1991. CEPT—A Computer-Aided Manufacturing Application for Managing Equipment Reliability and Availability in the Semiconductor Industry. New York, New York: IEEE.
Ravid, Avi, Avner Sharon, Amit Weingarten, Vladimir Machavariani, and David Scheiner, 2000. “Copper CMP Planarity Control Using ITM.” IEEE/SEMI Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference, pp. 437-443.
Reitman, E. A., D. J. Friedman, and E. R. Lory. Nov. 1997. “Pre-Production Results Demonstrating Multiple-System Models for Yield Analysis (Abstract).” IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing, vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 469-481.
Rocha, Joao and Carlow Ramos. Sep. 12, 1994. “Task Planning for Flexible and Agile Manufacturing Systems.” Intelligent Robots and Systems '94. Advanced Robotic Systems and the Real World, IROS '94. Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ/GI International Conference on Munich, Germany Sep. 12-16, 1994. New York, New York: IEEE. pp. 105-112.
Ruegsegger, Steven, Aaron Wagner, James S. Freudenberg, and Dennis S. Grimard. Nov. 1999. “Feedforward Control for Reduced Run-to-Run Variation in Microelectronics Manufacturing.” IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing, vol. 12, No. 4.
Runyan, W. R., and K. E. Bean. 1990. “Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Processing Technology.” p. 48. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
Sarfaty, Moshe, Arulkumar Shanmugasundram, Alexander Schwarm, Joseph Paik, Jimin Zhang, Rong Pan, Martin J. Seamons, Howard Li, Raymond Hung, and Suketu Parikh, Apr.-May 2002. “Advance Process Control Solutions for Semiconductor Manufacturing.” Boston, Massachusetts: 13th Annual IEEE/SEMI Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference. Advancing the Science and Technology of Semiconductor Manufacturing. ASMC 2002, pp. 101-106.
Scarr, J. M. and J. K. Zelisse. Apr. 1993. “New Topology for Thickness Monitoring Eddy Current Sensors (Abstract).” Proceedings of the 36th Annual Technical Conference, Dallas, Texas.
Schaper, C. D., M. M. Moslehi, K. C. Saraswat, and T. Kailath. Nov. 1994. “Modeling, Identification, and Control of Rapid Thermal Processing Systems (Abstract).” Journal of the Electrochemical Society, vol. 141, No. 11, pp. 3200-3209.
Schmid, Hans Albrecht. 1995. “Creating the Architecture of a Manufacturing Framework by Design Patterns.” Austin, Texas: OOPSLA.
SEMI. 2000. “Provisional Specification for CIM Framework Scheduling Components.” San Jose, California. SEMI E105-1000.
SEMI. [1986] 1996. “Standard for Definition and Measurement of Equipment Reliability, Availability, and Mantainability (RAM).” SEMI E10-96.
SEMI. Jul. 1998. New Standard: Provisional Specification for CIM Framework Domain Architecture. Mountain View, California: SEMI Standards. SEMI Draft Doc. 2817.
“Semiconductor Manufacturing: An Overview.” http://users.ece.gatech.edu/2dc;gmay/overview.html.
Sep. 15, 2003. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/928,474, filed Aug. 14, 2001.
Sep. 15, 2004. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 10/632,107, filed Aug. 1, 2003.
Sep. 16, 2004. International Preliminary Examination Report for PCT Serial No. PCT/US02/24859.
Sep. 26, 2002. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/637,620, filed Aug. 11, 2000.
Sep. 29, 2004. Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 09/363,966, filed Jul. 29, 1999.
Sep. 9, 2004. Written Opinion for PCT Serial No. PCT/US02/21942.
Shindo, Wataru, Eric H. Wang, Ram Akella, and Andrzej J. Strojwas. 1997. “Excursion Detection and Source Isolation in Defect Inspection and Classification.” 2nd International Workshop on Statistical Metrology, pp. 90-93.
Smith, S.R., K.E. Elers, T. Jacobs, V. Blaschke, and K. Pfeifer, 2001. “Physical and Electrical Characterization of ALD Tin Used as a Copper Diffusion Barrier in 0.25 mum, Dual Damascene Backened Structures” (Abstract). Advanced Metallization Conference 2001. Montreal, Quebec.
Smith, Stewart, Anthony J. Walton, Alan W. S. Ross, Georg K. H. Bodammer, and J. T. M. Stevenson. May 2002. “Evaluation of Sheet Resistance and Electrical Linewidth Measurement Techniques for Copper Damascene Interconnect.” IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing, vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 214-222.
Smith, Taber and Duane Boning. 1996. “A Self-Tuning EWMA Controller Utilizing Artificial Neural Network Function Approximation Techniques.” IEEE/CPMT International Electronics Manufacturing Technology Symposium, pp. 355-363.
Smith, Taber, Duane Bonig, James Moyne, Arnon Hurwitz, and John Curry, Jun. 1996. “Compensating for CMP Pad Wear Using Run by Run Feedback, Control.” Santa Clara, California: Proceedings of the Thirteenth International VLSI Multilevel Interconnection Conference. pp. 437-439.
Sonderman, Thomas. 2002. “APC as a Competitive Manufacturing Technology: AMD's Vision for 300nm.” AEC/APC.
Spanos, C. J., S. Leang, S.-Y. Ma, J. Thomson, B. Bombay, and X. Niu. May 1995. “A Multistep Supervisory Controller for Photolithographic Operations (Abstract).” Proceedings of the Symposium on Process Control, Diagnostics, and Modeling in Semiconductor Manufacturing, pp. 3-17.
Spanos, Costas J., Hai-Fang Guo, Alan Miller, and Joanne Levine-Parrill. Nov. 1992. “Real-Time Statistical Process Control Using Tool Data.” IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing, v. 5, n. 4, pp. 308-318.
Stoddard, K., P. Crouch, M. Kozicki, and K. Taskalis, Jun.-Jul. 1994, “Application of Feedforward and Adaptive Feedback Control to Semiconductor Device Manufacturing (Abstract).” Proceedings of 1994 American Control Conference—ACC '94, vol. 1, pp. 892-896. Baltimore, Maryland.
Sun, S.C. 1998. “CVD and PVD Transition Metal Nitrides as Diffusion Barriers for Cu Metallization.” IEEE pp. 243-246.
Suzuki, Junichi and Yoshikazu Yamamoto. 1998. “Toward the Interoperable Software Design Models: Quartet of UML, XML, DOM and COBRA.” Proceedings IEEE International Software Engineering Standards Symposium. pp. 1-10.
Tagami, M., A. Furuya, T. Onodera, and Y. Hayashi. 1999. “Layered Ta-nitrides (LTN) Barrier Film by Power Swing Sputtering (PSS) Technique for MOCVD-Cu Damascene Interconnects.” IEEE pp. 635-638.
Takahashi, Shingo, Kaori Tai, Hiizu Ohtorii, Naoki Komai, Yuji Segawa, Hiroshi Horikoshi, Zenya Yasuda, Hiroshi Yamada, Masao Ishihara, and Takeshi Nogami. 2002. “Fragile Porous-Low-k/Copper Integration by Using Electro-Chemical Polishing.” 2002 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest of Technical Papers, pp. 32-33.
Tan, K. K., H. F. Dou, and K. Z. Tang. May-Jun. 2001. “Precision Motion Control System for Ultra-Precision Semiconductor and Electronic Components Manufacturing (Abstract).” 51st Electronic Components and Technology Conference 2001. Proceedings, pp. 1372-1379 Orlando, Florida.
Tao, K. M., R. L. Kosut, M. Ekblad, and G. Aral. Dec. 1994. “Feedforward Learning Applied to RTP of Semiconductor Wafers (Abstract).” Proceedings of the 33rd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, vol. 1, pp. 67-72. Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Telfeyan, Roland, James Moyne, Nauman Chaudhry, James Pugmire, Scott Shellman, Duane Boning, William Moyne, Arnon Hurwitz, and John Taylor. Oct. 1995. “ A Multi-Level Approach to the Control of a Chemical -Mechanical Planarization Process.” Minneapolis, Minnesota: 42nd National Symposium of the American Vacuum Society.
Tobin, K. W., T. P. Karnowski, L. F. Arrowood, and F. Lakhani. Apr. 2001. “Field Test Results of an Automated Image Retrieval System (Abstract).” Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference, 2001 IEEE/SEMI, Munic, Germany.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/363,966, filed Jul. 29, 1999, Arackaparambil et al. Computer Integrated Manufacturing Techniques.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/469,227, filed Dec. 22, 1999, Somekh et al. Multi-Tool Control System, Method and Medium.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/619,044, filed Jul. 19, 2000, Yuan System and Method of Exporting or Importing Object Data in a Manufacturing Execution System.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/637,620, filed Aug. 11, 2000, Chi et al. Generic Interface Builder.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/655,542, filed Sep. 6, 2000, Yuan System, Method and Medium for Defining Palettes to Transform an Application Program Interface for a Service.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/656,031, filed Sep. 6, 2000, Chi et al. Dispatching Component for Associating Manufacturing Facility Service Requestors with Service Providers.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/725,908, filed Nov. 30, 2000, Chi et al. Dynamic Subject Information Generation in Message Services of Distributed Object Systems.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/800,980, filed Mar. 8, 2001, Hawkins et al. Dynamic and Extensible Task Guide.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/811,667, filed Mar. 20, 2001, Yuan et al. Fault Tolerant and Automated Computer Software Workflow.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/927,444, filed Aug. 13, 2001, Ward et al. Dynamic Control of Wafer Processing Paths in Semiconductor Manufacturing Processes.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/928,473, filed Aug. 14, 2001, Koh Tool Services Layer for Providing Tool Service Functions in Conjunction with Tool Functions.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/928,474, filed Aug. 14, 2001, Krishnamurthy et al. Experiment Management System, Method and Medium.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/943,383, filed Aug. 31, 2001, Shanmugasundram et al. In Situ Sensor Based Control of Semiconductor Processing Procedure.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/943,955, filed Aug. 31, 2001, Shanmugasundram et al. Feedback Control of a Chemical Mechanical Polishing Device Providing Manipulation of Removal Rate Profiles.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/998,372, filed Nov. 30, 2001, Paik Control of Chemical Mechanical Polishing Pad Conditioner Directional Velocity to Improve Pad Life.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/998,384, filed Nov. 30, 2001, Paik Feedforward and Feedback Control for Conditioning of Chemical Mechanical Polishing Pad.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/084,092, filed Feb. 28, 2002, Arackaparambil et al. Computer Integrated Manufacturing Techniques.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/100,184, filed Mar. 19, 2002, Al-Bayati et al. Method, System and Medium for Controlling Semiconductor Wafer Processes Using Critical Dimension Measurements.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/135,405, filed May 1, 2002, Reiss et al. Integration of Fault Detection with Run-to-Run Control.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/135,451, filed May 1, 2002, Shanmugasundram et al. Dynamic Metrology Schemes and Sampling Schemes for Advanced Process Control on Semiconductor Processing.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/172,977, filed Jun. 18, 2002, Shanmugasundram et al. Method, System and Medium for Process Control for the Matching of Tools, Chambers and/or Other Semiconductor-Related Entities.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/173,108, filed Jun. 18, 2002, Shanmugasundram et al. Integrating Tool, Module, and Fab Level Control.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/174,370, filed Jun. 18, 2002, Shanmugasundram et al. Feedback Control of Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition Processes.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/174,377, filed Jun. 18, 2002, Schwarm et al. Feedback Control of Sub-Atmospheric Chemical Vapor Deposition Processes.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/377,654, filed Mar. 4, 2003, Kokotov et al. Method, System and Medium for Controlling Manufacturing Process Using Adaptive Models Based on Empirical Data.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/393,531, filed Mar. 21, 2003, Shanmugasundram et al. Copper Wiring Module Control.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/632,107, filed Aug. 1, 2003, Schwarm et al. Method, System, and Medium for Handling Misrepresentative Metrology Data Within an Advanced Process Control System.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/665,165, filed Sep. 18, 2003, Paik Feedback Control of a Chemical Mechanical Polishing Process for Multi-Layered Films.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/712,273, filed Nov. 14, 2003, Kokotov Method, System and Medium for Controlling Manufacture Process Having Multivariate Input Parameters.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/759,108, filed Jan. 20, 2004, Schwarm Automated Design and Execution of Experiments with Integrated Model Creation for Semiconductor Manufacturing Tools.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/765,921, filed Jan. 29, 2004, Schwarm System, Method, and Medium for Monitoring Performance of an Advanced Process Control System.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/809,906, filed Mar. 26, 2004, Surana et al. A Technique for Process-Qualifying a Semiconductor Manufacturing Tool Using Metrology Data.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/809,908, filed Mar. 26, 2004, Yang et al. Improved Control of Metal Resistance in Semiconductor Products via Integrated Metrology.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/812,480, filed Mar. 30, 2004, Padhi et al. Selective Metal Encapsulation Schemes.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/856,016, filed May 28, 2004, Paik Improved Process Control by Distinguishing a White Noise Component of a Process Variance.
Van der Straten, O., Y. Zhu, E. Eisenbraun, and A. Kaloyeros. 2002. “Thermal and Electrical Barrier Performance Testing of Ultrathin Atomic Layer Deposition Tantalum-Based Materials for Nanoscale Copper Metallization.” IEEE pp. 188-190.
Van Zant, Peter. 1997. Microchip Fabrication: A Practical Guide to Semiconductor Processing. Third Edition, pp. 472-478. New York, New York: McGraw-Hill.
“Wafer flatness measurement of advanced wafers.” Printed Dec. 9, 2003. http://www.phase-shift.com/wafer-flatness.shtml.
Wang, LiRen and Hefin Rowlands. 2001. “A Novel NN-Fuzzy-SPC Feedback Control System.” 8th IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation, pp. 417-423.
Williams, Randy, Dadi Gudmundsson, Kevin Monahan, Raman Nurani, Meryl Stroller and J. George Shanthikumar. Oct. 1999. “Optimized Sample Planning for Wafer Defect Inspection,” Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference Proceedings, 1999 IEEE International Symposium on Santa Clara, CA. Piscataway, NJ. pp. 43-46.
Wu, Z.C., Y.C. Lu, C.C. Chiang, M.C. Chen, B.T. Chen, G.J. Wang, Y.T. Chen, J.L. Huang, S.M. Jang, and M.S. Liang. 2002. “Advanced Metal Barrier Free Cu Damascene Interconnects with PECVD Silicon Carbide Barriers for 90/65-nm BEOL Technology.” IEEE pp. 595-598.
Yamagishi, H., Z. Tokei, G.P. Beyer, R. Donaton, H. Bender, T. Nogami, and K. Maex. 2000. “TEM/SEM Investigation and Electrical Evaluation of a Bottomless I-PVD TA(N) Barrier in Dual Damascene” (Abstract). Advanced Metallization Conference 2000. San Diego, CA.
Yasuda, M., T. Osaka, and M. Ikeda. Dec. 1996. “Feedforward Control of a Vibration Isolation System for Disturbance Suppression (Abstract).” Proceedings of the 35th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, vol. 2, pp. 1229-1233. Kobe, Japan.
Yeh, C. Eugene, John C. Cheng, and Kwan Wong. 1993. “Implementation Challenges of a Feedback Control System for Wafer Fabrication.” IEEE/CHMT International Electronics Manufacturing Technology Symposium, pp. 438-442.
Zhe, Ning, J. R. Moyne, T. Smith, D. Boning, E. Del Castillo, Yeh Jinn-Yi, and Hurwitz. Nov. 1996. “A Comparative Analysis of Run-to-Run Control Algorithms in Semiconductor Manufacturing Industry (Abstract).” IEEE/SEMI 1996 Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference Workshop, pp. 375-381.
Zhou, Zhen-Hong and Rafael Reif. Aug. 1995. “Epi-Film Thickness Measurements Using Emission Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy—Part II: Real-Time in Situ Process Monitoring and Control,” IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing, vol. 8, No. 3.
Zorich, Robert. 1991. Handbook of Quality Integrated Circuit Manufacturing. pp. 464-498 San Diego, California: Academic Press, Inc.
Nov. 30, 2005. Notice of Allowance for U.S. Appl. No. 10/856,016.

Jarrett, Ryan A.

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/855,711, filed May 28, 2004 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,961,626, which is incorporated herein its entirety by reference. This application is related to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/856,016, filed May 28, 2004, entitled Improved Process Control By Distinguishing a White Noise Component of a Process Variance which is incorporated herein its entirety by reference.

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for controlling a manufacturing process, comprising the steps of: (a) inputting a model for the manufacturing process and obtaining a manufacturing recipe based on the model, wherein the model predicts at least one value for a product characteristic of at least one product processed by the manufacturing process; (b) receiving at least one observed value for the product characteristic of the at least one product and determining a variance between the at least one observed value and the at least one predicted value; (c) determining a value for uncontrollable error from the variance; (d) using the value for uncontrollable error to update a process threshold; and (e) adjusting at least one control parameter of the manufacturing process using the updated process threshold, wherein the manufacturing process includes at least one device on which the at least one product is processed, the at least one device being affected by the at least one control parameter.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the variance is determined from the at least one observed value observed for N previously processed products.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein N is in the range of 5 to 100.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein N is in the range of 10 to 40.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of: using the value for uncontrollable error to update the at least one control parameter.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the value for uncontrollable error is used as a weighing factor to adjust an estimated gain in the updating of the at least one control parameter.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the value fo